Have you heard about Trump’s second-term promises and how it impacts low-income Americans?
Depending on who you talk to, who is going to win the presidential race is always changing.
Yet, when it comes to Donald Trump’s second-term promises, there seems to be a particular part of the American population that is going to be disproportionately affected.
Economists have already looked at the numbers from Trump’s first term, and they have come up with their own numbers.
Depending on how you look at them, it could look like he has done a lot of good.
Some of the areas where he improved included the likes of record-low unemployment rates, low inflation, and strong economic growth, especially for those less fortunate.
Yet, the reality is quite different, no matter how much we would love for it not to be like this.
Leading economists also report that if we look at Trump’s second-term promises, we are in for a while.
We have already seen what Project 2025 promises for our country, but these second-term promises show another grim promise for low-income Americans.
These promises can lead to more tax cuts, explosive inflation, and a lot of harm for the middle and lower classes.
We have looked over some of Donald Trump’s second-term promises and how they could affect poor and low-income Americans. The findings surprised us!
What do you think about Trump’s second-term promises? Do you know who you will support on the election date? Share your answers in the comments!
Healthcare
Low-income families have always been greatly affected by a lack of access to preventable treatment and affordable health care.
This lack of access has created a cycle of financial instability for those families who have gotten deep in debt due to it, and obviously poor health since they cannot afford treatment.
While most people are aware of this, it seems like Trump’s second-term promises have also led to this cycle. Yet, in a harmful way.
The former president has vowed to repeal the ACA (the Affordable Care Act), which has extended Medicaid eligibility to millions of low-income individuals.
Also known as “Obamacare,” this Act has helped a lot of poor families, low-income retirees, and seniors be able to access important health care, and one thing that many praise this Act for is the prohibition on insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions!
Despite these subsidies, a lot of families still cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs of healthcare, and some have also complained about how complex this program is; it has made it difficult for some families to select the plans they truly need and even find hospitals and doctors.
Even so, many worry about how much worse the situation could get if the ACA is repealed.
Likewise, Trump has also made his previous executive order regarding the U.S. government paying the same price for pharmaceuticals another second-term promise.
Jobs and Economy
Trump has made a lot of second-term promises that concern the economy and job market, yet one of the biggest ones is regarding tax cuts.
He pledged to reduce the corporate tax rate by lowering it to %15 from where it currently resides at %21.
While this may sound like good news, critics warn that this tax cut will be beneficial mainly to high-income households and will not impact any low-income families in any substantial way or provide any relief, as many believe.
Another big second-term promise was made during the Las Vegas campaign, where the former president promised to end the income tax associated with tipped wages for casino workers and waitstaff.
Given how huge the hospitality and leisure industry is in Las Vegas, experts mention that he is probably counting on their votes.
Despite this, this type of income tax relief may not be easy to set in motion, despite any promises made.
Education
Education is already a contested subject.
Yet, when we look at the fact that 52% of all school students nationwide are eligible for the free or reduced lunch scheme, it paints a very striking picture of the income status of most of the kids in the country.
What was Trump’s second-term promise when it came to education? The former president wants to make do with the federal Education Department.
Instead, he promised “favorable treatment” and funding preference schemes to all the schools that give parents the power to elect a principal, to end tenure for all K–12 teachers, and to implement merit pay for all teachers, along with reducing school administrators, including those focused on creating a diverse and equal environment in schools.
According to education experts, these promised policies would put an end to the federal fund that supports low-income students and allows them to attend school, scale back any efforts made to have civil rights laws enforced in school and make federal state education funds have no strings attached.
While our education system struggles with teacher retention and the politicization and safety of classrooms, it seems like Trump’s second-term promises for education will not aid the discord in schools at all.
Energy
You have probably heard about his second-term promise already, especially since Trump has managed to make a slogan out of it too: “Drill baby drill.” His promise seems to be geared towards lowering the price of energy, all by increasing domestic production.
However, increasing domestic production is not going to come along without many drawbacks. This increased domestic production also includes undoing and eliminating President Biden’s subsidies for green energy and any environmental gas emissions.
As a second-term promise, former President Trump wants to speed up any approvals needed for fracked gas pipelines, expedite any federal drilling permits pending, and expand fuel extraction on more of the public land and water.
Experts note that while these types of changes could lower the prices of energy, they will only last a little while.
The long-term effects could end up causing market instability, which in turn will cause price volatility; this volatility will end up disproportionately affecting those vulnerable, with low-income families ending up spending more than they usually do on energy and gas costs, which already eat up a big part of their income.
What’s more, low-income households and poor neighborhoods are located closer to industrial areas due to lower prices and a lower quality of life.
This makes them vulnerable to the water and air pollution that comes with industrial areas and increased healthcare costs that many cannot afford in the long run.
Trade
The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the low 20% of income earners spend on average 80% of their income on basic needs such as food, housing, transportation, and healthcare across the United States.
As a second-term promise, Donald Trump has promised that he will start imposing the same type of taxes that are perceived on American goods on goods that are coming into the U.S. from other countries.
Furthermore, he promised that he would enforce a 60% tariff on any Chinese imports, no matter what they contained.
Despite sounding like they could help the country, these trade policies are likely to come with price increases for the basic items that people need to buy, and as a result, they will burden low-income families more.
Since we mentioned Project 2025 earlier, if you want to know more about what it holds and what it could mean for our country, we recommend you read this book.
There’s lots of misinformation out there, both based on what presidential candidates have said and promised and both about the GOP. If you want to make sure the media do not mislead you, check out this article: Still Believing These 14 Myths About GOP? It’s Time to STOP!
